Page 32 of Guardian

“I was not happy about using my inside man for such trivial information. This man was not someone who mattered. He was just a punk that the cartel used for small sales. But by listening inon the conversations about this irritant we discovered not only your answers but several details we needed for ourselves. So, it was not as much a waste of time as we had concerned ourselves over,” Petrov stated. His disdain for what he considered a job below his station was made obvious to us all.

“What we learned for our own sake was that the foolish cartel leader, Aguilar, believes he can escort illegals into Texas and extort larger than agreed upon amounts of money from them without the bratva’s knowledge. Most cannot pay, so they are enslaved as whores or eliminated. This matter we will deal with on our own. For your information and for mine as well, they are poaching from both of our drug territories. Their drugs contain hazardous chemicals that send their buyers into the ER more often than not, but the blame will fall on your shoulders as most of those drugs are ending up in your territory. We have managed to remove them from ours, permanently,” he continued without showing any concern over killing those who thought to interfere with his livelihood.

I opened my mouth to ask about Mitch, but Prime held up a hand to stop me. He didn’t want me speaking. I assumed he was trying to appease Petrov’s dislike of dealing with those he considered as underlings. It burned my ass to be thought of as less than this man.

I fumed until Prime asked the question for me. “What was learned about Mitch? I ask so that I can release Sweet to do his duty while we discuss the issue of removing the cartel from our territory.”

Petrov nodded, clearly appeased for the break up of his speech by the fact that Prime was going to dismiss me so they could discuss business he didn’t believe I needed to hear. He didn’t understand that Prime wasn’t like him. The entire MC would learn of every word spoken in this room. Prime would make sure of it.

“My daughter will explain. I do not care for such trivial matters,” Petrov sneered.

Prime turned to the woman. His eyes showed an appreciation for her beauty. He looked at her in a way I’d never seen him do with any other female. I speculated on what was behind the look.

“There is not much to say about what the man you asked about was doing for the cartel. As you already suspected, he was employed by them to distribute drugs and make sure payment was made. He was charged with partaking of the drugs he was supposed to sell, and for shorting the cartel of payments. Eventually, he stopped paying at all. He was warned. It is known among the lower levels of the cartel that threats were made to a family that he no longer has,” Zoe told us.

“Thank you for confirming our suspicions. We would like to know if the threats will be acted on if that is possible for you to learn,” Prime replied.

“I cannot confirm or deny their plans for receiving payment. However, I do not see a reason for further action on their part. We have learned that the body of a male fitting the description of this Mitch fellow was discovered in Lake Conception by a fisherman just moments before we arrived at your door. There were signs that he’d been beaten, suffered burns on several sensitive parts of his body, and the skin removed from an area around his nipples before his throat was slit. I would assume the debt is paid,” Zoe explained without flinching at the description she gave.

I came out of my chair, ready to pound more information out of the woman, but Prime shouted, “HOLD!” He’d seen the bodyguard make a move for his weapon.

I ground my teeth together until my head throbbed and clenched my hands into white knuckled fists, but I managed to obey the order.

“How did you get the information so quickly? We’ve heard nothing from the police,” Prime answered.

“We have a man inside the police force. He was aware we had been asking questions about this man. The identity has yet to be confirmed, but my informant is certain it is him. I do not doubt that he is correct. I would not worry any longer over the woman. She is meaningless,” Petrov calmly replied.

My anger rose by several levels at his dismissive attitude. I’d seen the note the cartel left on Jemma’s doorstep. They wanted the money. I feared this wasn’t over. What they couldn’t get from Mitch they’d try to get from her, and they wouldn’t mind using Jackson to get it.

What would happen when she heard about Mitch’s death? She had no one to turn to, not even me. She said she hated him and wanted him out of her life, but I didn’t think she’d meant she preferred him dead. She’d suffer from guilt over her hatred because of her kind heart. And poor Jackson had lost his father. It wouldn’t matter that he was a loser of a father to him. He’d be devastated.

They both needed protection and a shoulder to cry on. The problem was that I wasn’t allowed to give them either of their needs. Jemma had closed that door.

Chapter 18

Jemma

“Why am I here?”I asked Officer Carmichael. “Why was I called down to the precinct? I should be at work. I have a child to support.”

“The Captain wants to speak with you, and he doesn’t have time to spare to come to you. The city can’t be put on hold for one woman. He’s responsible for large numbers of the population who count on him for their safety,” Officer Carmichael replied.

“Then, why didn’t he have you tell me whatever it is that I’m here for? It would have saved us both time. My work may not be important in his eyes, but it is to my son. It puts food on the table and a roof over his head,” I declared with frustration.

“I believe he considered the matter to be too delicate for me to handle. I can’t offer anything more. He’ll explain in his own way. You may go in now. It seems he is off the phone.”

I was rock solid on the outside as I entered the Captain’s office, but I was shaking on the inside. I was intelligent enough to realize that being summoned to this place meant there was something very wrong. My thoughts immediately went to Jackson, but I knew I’d dropped him off at school and heard nothing from them, so I figured he had to be okay. My only other worry was for Sweet, and that didn’t make me happy. I wasn’t supposed to give a damn about him anymore.

“Sit down,” the police Captain ordered the instant I stepped into his office.

I heard Carmichael close the door behind me, and the office became stuffy and uncomfortably like a cell with glass windows.

“Whatever this is about, I’d appreciate it if you could just get on with it. I need to get back to work,” I stiffly announced.

He sighed before replying. “Ma’am, I realize I’ve inconvenienced you. However, I felt it was necessary. I don’t think you’d like to hold this type of discussion at your place of work. It’s personal business that it’s better your coworkers and your boss don’t know. It could taint your reputation even though you’ve done nothing wrong. People see what they want to see, and your ex-husband’s lifestyle could cause them to see you in a different light. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it goes.”

“I guess that means you have information on who left the squirrel and the note. Mitch is in trouble isn’t he?” I asked.

“He was. We’re guessing he owed the money to the cartel. He was a drug runner for them. I believe he imbibed in the product a lot of the time rather than selling it. He also stole a lot the money from the sells he did make. We know that much from an informant and his bookie. It seems he’d turned to gambling to retrieve the money he owed, but lost everything he’d bet,” the Captain explained.

---